As we all know, the Soviet Union does not exist today; however, countries that belonged to the former Soviet Union do share aspects of development and have similar key trends, one of these being the raise of HIV/AIDS. Countries of the former Soviet Union have not generally been associated with AIDS, at least, not nearly as much as developing African nations. However, recent statistics and studies show a rapid increase in the number of HIV infected citizens in these countries and the spread of the virus cannot be attributed to sexual transmission, as can most transmission in Africa or India. Here HIV is assaulting all ages of the population, taking advantage of the high dependency of much of the population on intravenous drugs...
The Problem: Countries of the former Soviet Union never had particularly problematic issues when it came to the global pandemic of HIV/ AIDS. However, many experts are noticing trends in these countries that are placing them on the brink of a widespread national epidemic. The majority of this problem exists due to infections caused by intravenous drug use, but sex workers and the gay population are also contributing to the spread of AIDS. Just in the last three years, the problem of AIDS and HIV have increased 15 fold.
IN THE YEAR 2007, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDS IN EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE GREW BY ABOUT 100,000, FOR A TOTAL OF 1.5 MILLION IN THE REGION. ACCORDING TO UNAIDS, ANOTHER 58,000 DIED. OF THOSE THAT WERE INFECTED, A WHOPPING 69% LIVED IN RUSSIA, AND ANOTHER 20 TO 30% LIVED IN UKRAINE, ACCOUNTING FOR AROUND 90% OF THOSE INFECTED.THE MAJORITY OF THOSE INFECTED ARE INTRAVENOUS DRUG USERS, SEX WORKERS, AND THEIR PARTNERS.
Intravenous Drug Users:
A popular form of drug-use in former Soviet countries are intravenous drugs, drugs in liquid form that must be injected into the blood-stream to get into the body. With such a large portion of the population using these drugs, the HIV virus can easily spread from person to person, infecting substantial portions of the nation's population. In general, drug users are those that live in poverty, or anywhere close to the poverty line. Because of this, the cheapest methods of getting drugs are reverted to, such as the sharing of syringes or needles that have not been properly sterilized. If one drug-user has AIDS and uses intravenous drugs, another person who shares their needles with the infected person is likely to develop AIDS themselves, as there is a close enough proximity from the virus to the blood stream. Thus, HIV can and does spread rapidly across the population...
For more information on Intravenous Drug Users and HIV, check out the following link: Intravenous Drug Users and HIV
Treatment and Prevention More than half of the countries which previously belonged to the USSR had policies, legislation or regulations that went directly against any sort of care, treatment and prevention, thus creating an obstacle for anyone who needed treatment. In addition to problems faced due to government regulations, those that have AIDS often must deal with derogatory comments and stigma. According to the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, people with HIV found more tolerance in the big Ukrainian cities, but in the countryside, they could be driven out by stigma. When a village finds out that a person is living with AIDS, the person is faced with many challenges placed upon him/her in his/her community. For example, their children may not be admitted into school, or there could be incidences of physical violence... with the negative effects of admitting one has HIV/ AIDS, most do not even try to seek medical attention.
"According to UN AIDS, only one person in every fourbadly infected individuals has access to the lifeline treatmentin Eastern Europe and Central Asia."
STATISTICS:
Presently 8,000 people in Ukraine receive treatment; however, many problems exist regarding the imported antiretroviral drugs into these former soviet countries. For example, many of the antiretroviral drugs are below standard quality and lack the ingredients that are necessary to repress the virus.
The average prevalence (or fraction of the population that is infected) of the AIDS virus across a region including countries like Bulgaria, Romania, and the former Yugoslav states of Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina, was 0.8% in 2007, double what it was in 2001. (According to UNAID statistics)
Prevalence in most of the Caucasus and Central Asia: 0.1- 0.2 %
Prevalence in Russia- 1.0- 1.5 %
Prevalence in Ukraine- 1.5- 2.0 %
The number of infections are rising in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and especially Uzbekistan, which "now has the largest epidemic in central Asia," according to the updated UNAIDS assessment of the pandemic.
As we all know, the Soviet Union does not exist today; however, countries that belonged to the former Soviet Union do share aspects of development and have similar key trends, one of these being the raise of HIV/AIDS. Countries of the former Soviet Union have not generally been associated with AIDS, at least, not nearly as much as developing African nations. However, recent statistics and studies show a rapid increase in the number of HIV infected citizens in these countries and the spread of the virus cannot be attributed to sexual transmission, as can most transmission in Africa or India. Here HIV is assaulting all ages of the population, taking advantage of the high dependency of much of the population on intravenous drugs...
The Problem:
Countries of the former Soviet Union never had particularly problematic issues when it came to the global pandemic of HIV/ AIDS. However, many experts are noticing trends in these countries that are placing them on the brink of a widespread national epidemic. The majority of this problem exists due to infections caused by intravenous drug use, but sex workers and the gay population are also contributing to the spread of AIDS. Just in the last three years, the problem of AIDS and HIV have increased 15 fold.
IN THE YEAR 2007, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDS IN EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE GREW BY ABOUT 100,000, FOR A TOTAL OF 1.5 MILLION IN THE REGION. ACCORDING TO UNAIDS, ANOTHER 58,000 DIED. OF THOSE THAT WERE INFECTED, A WHOPPING 69% LIVED IN RUSSIA, AND ANOTHER 20 TO 30% LIVED IN UKRAINE, ACCOUNTING FOR AROUND 90% OF THOSE INFECTED.THE MAJORITY OF THOSE INFECTED ARE INTRAVENOUS DRUG USERS, SEX WORKERS, AND THEIR PARTNERS.
Intravenous Drug Users:
A popular form of drug-use in former Soviet countries are intravenous drugs, drugs in liquid form that must be injected into the blood-stream to get into the body. With such a large portion of the population using these drugs, the HIV virus can easily spread from person to person, infecting substantial portions of the nation's population. In general, drug users are those that live in poverty, or anywhere close to the poverty line. Because of this, the cheapest methods of getting drugs are reverted to, such as the sharing of syringes or needles that have not been properly sterilized. If one drug-user has AIDS and uses intravenous drugs, another person who shares their needles with the infected person is likely to develop AIDS themselves, as there is a close enough proximity from the virus to the blood stream. Thus, HIV can and does spread rapidly across the population...
For more information on Intravenous Drug Users and HIV, check out the following link:
Intravenous Drug Users and HIV
Treatment and Prevention
More than half of the countries which previously belonged to the USSR had policies, legislation or regulations that went directly against any sort of care, treatment and prevention, thus creating an obstacle for anyone who needed treatment. In addition to problems faced due to government regulations, those that have AIDS often must deal with derogatory comments and stigma. According to the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, people with HIV found more tolerance in the big Ukrainian cities, but in the countryside, they could be driven out by stigma. When a village finds out that a person is living with AIDS, the person is faced with many challenges placed upon him/her in his/her community. For example, their children may not be admitted into school, or there could be incidences of physical violence... with the negative effects of admitting one has HIV/ AIDS, most do not even try to seek medical attention.
"According to UN AIDS, only one person in every four badly infected individuals has access to the lifeline treatment in Eastern Europe and Central Asia."
STATISTICS:
The number of infections are rising in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and especially Uzbekistan, which "now has the largest epidemic in central Asia," according to the updated UNAIDS assessment of the pandemic.
AIDS ON THE RISE IN RUSSIA